No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
– John 6:44
Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says, “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
– 1 Corinthians 12:3
One of the common accusations against Arminianism is that we believe that a person can “will” themselves to salvation, and so Arminians will use various methods and means to get people to recite a prayer, sign a card, walk an isle, be baptized, join the church, etc. This “works-salvation” method of evangelism has been labeled at Arminians down through the years from the pens of John Owen to J.I. Packer. Yet, is this true? Do we Arminians believe that a person can will themselves to salvation and that a person can get saved anytime, anywhere simply by following our formulas?
In reality, we Arminians hold that a person can only be saved by the grace of God (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-7). Granted, we believe that God’s heart is for all to be saved (John 3:15-16), but we believe that a person must surrender to the work of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit works through the preaching of the Gospel to draw sinners unto Christ (Romans 1:16-17; 10:14-17). This is why preaching the Gospel is necessary for salvation. It is not enough to believe in the existence of God or to even believe in the name of Jesus Christ, but one must hear the gospel, repent (Matthew 3:8; Luke 13:5; 24:47; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 11:18; 17:30; 26:20; Romans 2:4; 2 Corinthians 7:10; 2 Peter 3:9) and believe the saving gospel of Jesus Christ (John 5:24-25; 20:31; Acts 16:30-34; Romans 5:1-11; 1 Timothy 1:15-16; 1 John 5:4-5).
When we consider the Holy Spirit and who He is, we recognize that apart from the Holy Spirit we would have no hope, no salvation, no gospel. The Holy Spirit was active in the virgin birth of Jesus (Luke 1:35). The Holy Spirit was active in the ministry and life of the Lord Jesus while He was on earth (Matthew 3:16-4:1; Luke 4:14) and Jesus understood that He was anointed by the Spirit for His divine work (Luke 4:18-19; Acts 10:38). The Holy Spirit, Jesus promised His Apostles, would use them to write the New Testament (John 14:26; 15:26-27; 16:12-15). Therefore, when you consider these works by the Spirit, then we see that apart from the Holy Spirit we would have nothing that we have in Jesus Christ.
This makes the ministry of the Holy Spirit vital to evangelism. We need not try to “woo” people to get saved or force them to say “the sinner’s prayer,” but we need to work with God for the salvation of souls. The greatest miracle is when God saves sinners by His grace and imparts into them His Spirit and thus gives us eternal life (Ephesians 1:13-14). As Paul so clearly wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:5-9, we work with God for the saving of souls but He gets the glory and He gives the increase. Acts 2:47 makes it equally clear that God Himself adds people to the Church. Not methods. Not men. Just the Spirit working through the grace of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ to save sinners.
The difference between Arminians and Calvinists is simply the issue of resistance. Calvinism teaches that once God calls a person, then this calling is irresistible. Within Calvinism this makes regeneration before faith as vital to their system. However, we Arminians see the command to repent and to believe the gospel as the conditional aspects of salvation. Once the Spirit is working on a heart, He can be resisted (Acts 7:51). Justification is not UNTO faith but BY faith (Romans 5:1). We Arminians agree that no one can say Jesus is Lord except in the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3), but we do believe that a person must surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit in order to be regenerated by God’s grace.
[Link to original post and comments on Roy Ingle’s website.]
